


As long as you come home

by Thea_rainbow



Category: Sorted (Website) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Blood Loss, Blood and Violence, Happy Ending, M/M, Magic Revealed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2015-05-16
Packaged: 2018-03-30 19:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3948580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thea_rainbow/pseuds/Thea_rainbow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bright sunshine filtered through the windows, filling the small room with a glow. Inside of the room, a man with brown hair sat on the ground on a pillow, legs bend as he watched the colours dancing over the white wall.<br/>A sudden noise made him flinch and let his hand curl together, cutting of the soft stream of magic and letting the colours fade into nothingness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As long as you come home

**Author's Note:**

> Ekuseni – morning  
> Unathi – with us  
> Ngiyabonga – thank you  
> Kancane - little
> 
> thanks god for google translator (the language is Zulu)

Bright sunshine filtered through the windows, filling the small room with a glow. Inside of the room, a man with brown hair sat on the ground on a pillow, legs bend as he watched the colours dancing over the white wall.

A sudden noise made him flinch and let his hand curl together, cutting of the soft stream of magic and letting the colours fade into nothingness.

Hastily, he crammed all the papers surrounding him into the box next to him before he brushed a cleaning spell over the room, clearing away the smell of magic, like lightning in a rainy night.

“Ben?” came a voice from the front door and Ben cursed under his breath, Mike wasn’t supposed to be home until…

He looked at the clock on the wall and groaned. It was already after 6pm and it seemed that  he lost the feeling of time again.

Shoving the box back to the cluster crammed into the room he stood up and made his way to the stairs, looking down only to be greeted by Mike who had hung his jacket and now waited at the end of the stairs for Ben.

“Mike.” He smiled and rushed down the stairs, taking the blond man into his arms. Even if his boyfriend just interrupted his training he missed him more than to be mad at him.

“How are you? how was the trip?” he asked and started peppering small kisses over Mike's face where a big grin broke out.

“Boring, you know how company trips normally are.” He could feel a hand brushing through his hair and suddenly Mike laughed.

“Why do you have a leave in your hair?” he asked and entangled a leave from Ben's hair, still grinning.

Shit, he forgot to check himself. What if he still had some of the green stuff somewhere? Or the purple? His mind raced quickly, hanging his head and twined his fingers together before he muttered.

“I felt lonely and thought a trip into the forest could lift my mood.” And then he was hugged tightly.  
“Sorry love. I will try to avoid going on two weeks trips any time soon.”

They stood there, hugging at the end of the stairs, just bathing in the company of each other.

“I really missed you too.” Mike murmured into Ben's scalp where he pressed a kiss to the soft skin there.

Ben could feel his magic flare to live inside of his chest, wanting and needing to curl around the person in front of him, but he had to hold it back. It was too dangerous.

“I love you.” Was pressed into another patch of skin and Ben smiled.

“I love you too.”

“Let's get some food in me.”  Mike said cheerily and sauntered off into the kitchen.

And Ben stood there for a few seconds, just counting the passing time to calm himself down before following Mike.

It was definitely too much to let his magic run free for 14 days and then suddenly stop.

* * *

 

He didn’t know why he never had told Mike. Why he had never told him about his roots. And after a year of relationship it seemed too risky. And after 3 years it was way too risky to blow such a big secret.

So he just kept it quiet. Training and practicing only when he was sure nobody was around to see. That was what he had done the last 14 days. Spending all day building and creating layers of spells, making some potions for his family and even helping a familiar of his aunt to transform into easier forms than just a tortoise.

Slipping every once in a while wasn’t really that bad, because Mike never found it suspicious when the covers came crawling from the foot of the bed over them or when the lube was suddenly right next to his fingers.

* * *

 

There was a group of hunters in town and he only got wind of it when his mother called him, voice stressed and words spoken fast.

“Ekuseni, hunters are in your town. They are out for witch blood. We will come...”

Only after he processed what he just heard he barked out a fast “No, don’t come here! I want you miles afar from them!”

“But Ekuseni...” his mother started but Ben interrupted her.

“I am strong and we know we are not safe in numbers. “ A sad sound came from the other side, reminding how the family lost some of their members.

“And I can’t have you here, Mike still doesn’t know.” He said, leaning against the table as he watched the sun shine through the window.

“I won’t even ask why, but love, you could use some back ups. Maybe Aty could come down to you...”

“Aty? You mean uncle Aty who nearly killed me twice because he can’t control the basic magic?” Ben muttered and shook himself by saying it out loud before he quickly took a look around to see if anyone heard him.

Thank god Mike was still asleep.

“He isn’t that bad, he took some time with Granny to learn.”

Ben made a chocked off laughing noise.

“Poor Granny. But no. I will deal with them myself, okay?”

“Just stay safe, will you?”

“Yes Mom.”

“We will see you soon, Ekuseni.”

“Until then Mom. Tell everyone I love them, okay?”

“We love you too.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

He hung up and took a deep breath. This is going to suck balls.

* * *

 

Magic was something rare. Ben only knew of two families and some little groups who had the trait in their blood. One was his and the other was living in the US, spread over the whole country to lower the risk of hunters stumbling over a group of them. The rest were all scattered over the world.

But that was it.

If there were others, they didn’t know about them.

Ben grew up in an extremely large family. With a family tree that had hundred branches and even more roots from everywhere over the world. And everyone in his family, besides the people who got married into it, had magic, so it was always a fun growing up.

He really missed the feeling of magic pulsing around him whenever he went to sleep. At least now he had Mike's warmth around him.

 _

His mother texted him the information about the hunter a few minutes later and it was followed by many messages from his family, cheering him up and telling him that if he needed help that they would be there in an instant.

“What are you smiling about?” Mike asked as he stepped up behind him, sliding an arm around his waist and supporting his chin with Ben’s shoulder.

“Silly people.” Ben said smiling and leaned back into the embrace.

A rich laughter came from behind him and his smile widened.

“Like always then. That and tickles...” Mike grinned and let his hands wander around Ben's midsection where he knew he was ticklish.

“Oh no.” Ben muttered before he was attacked, tickled for his dear life and laughed, fighting against it, but he was useless once he got tickled.

At the end, he had tears streaming down his face and his muscles strained around his chest.

“You asshole.” Ben said, exhausted.

“Your asshole.”

“Mhhh.”                                           

* * *

 

Leaving Mike sleeping soundly in their bed, Ben slipped out from under the blankets and made his way to the storage room, collecting clothes on the way in which he dressed himself, juggling a torch in his hand. After a while of going through dusty cartons he found what he was looking for. A necklace, the green stone resting in the middle of silver was glowing slightly under the light of the torch.

“Gotcha.” He whispered and slipped the necklace around his neck, making his skin tingle with the old magic reaching out for his.

Stroking his thumb over the protective stone, he whispered the spell that made it actively glow under his finger. He nodded to himself and went down the stairs and into the cold night, breathed in the fresh air and smiled up to the stars.

And then he was running, leaving their house in his back and the road ahead of him. The address his mother gave him guided him to an old looking house at the edge of the town, close to the forest.

Walking up to the house, the first thing he did was checking if any traps were sat up. But after he rounded the property once he was sure that the hunter was a fucking idiot.

And after checking the backdoor he made a triumphant sound as the door swung open. Taking several steps into the house, he held his breath as he listened to the sound of the house and only breathed out as he heard nothing more than the wind making their way thought the holes of the house. Somewhere far away an owl cooed.

Suddenly his phone vibrated in his pocket and he cursed himself that he forgot to turn it off. Fumbling it out he took a quick look at the screen before answering. It said 'Mike'.

“Babe where are you?” Mike asked, voice so heavy with sleep that Ben nearly didn’t understand him. He still looked around, hoping the sound of the phone vibrating didn’t set off an alarm.

“I will be home soon, okay? And I will tell...” he had to shut up as he heard something creak under his feet.

Cursing under his breath he stood still.

“I will be home soon. And I will tell you why I was gone, okay? But right now...”He trailed off, looking back at the backdoor, wishing he could just flee.

“As long as you come home.”

“I will always come home to you. I love you.”

“Bring some rolls when you get back.” Mike mumbled and then the sound of the dial tone come through.

Turning his phone off, he stuffed it back into his pants before he walked around, snooping and looking around for something to nail the hunter down.

Sadly, most of the things lying around where empty alcohol bottles, littering the floor and every furniture.

After going through the ground level he walked up the stairs, laying a muting spell over the creaking wooden steps. But the house still groaned and moaned under his weight when he arrived upstairs.

Slowly, he made his way to the only room he felt some kind of energy from, probably the bedroom Ben mused and when he looked into the room, he paled.

There was a man lying on the bed, head against the headboard with a shotgun pointed at him.

“And who are you?” the man asked, voice disgustingly sweet and it made Ben's skin crawl.

Ben summoned all his willpower to speak

“No one.” He then finally said and the man loaded the weapon, pointing it directly at his heart.

“Well no one, it was nice... No it wasn’t.” a dirty laughter and then the man stood up, his heavy beer gut hanging from under his too tight shirt, the fabric stained by all kinds of things.

“Knowing you.” He ended and grinned, his foul teeth on display.

And then he shot.

And Ben shut his eyes.

“Oh a witch.” He heard after the ringing in his ears decreased and when he opened his eyes he saw the particles of the shotgun bullet centimeters away from his body, spread over the air like they were stuck in something invisible. Thank god he had put the protective stone around his neck!

Ben cleared his throat, standing up more straight and buried his hard gaze into the man's red rimmed eyes.

“Yes I am. And you seem to be hunting me.”

The man finally realised who he had in front of him. Not just a lonely burglar or a normal witch, he had Ekuseni standing in his hallway.

“I didn’t think I would meet you this soon.” The hunter said and reloaded his shotgun, grinning.

“And I didn’t think I would have to kill you that soon.” He added and shot again.

The bullet stayed in the air again and Ben smiled. “Same here.” He muttered and then he lifted his hands and let his magic run free, letting it curl around the weapon in the man's hand, ripping it away from the clammy hands and then threw it into the farthest corner.

And then suddenly everything happened too fast. Something was thrown at him, something powdery and pink that made him freeze, made his muscles lock up and made his lungs heavy.

He could feel it crawling over his skin and hide in every pore. And it felt disgusting.

“Wha?” he got out before his talking triggered a coughing fit. Bend over and supported by his hands on his knees he could only watch the hunter move closer, picking up a knife as he walked over.

“You really think I only had one weapon to fight someone like you?” he laughed, disgustingly.

“Silly little witch.” He muttered and threaded his fingers through Ben's hair before throwing him on the ground and kicking a foot in Ben's stomach.

Pain spilled through his dizzy vision and his brain.

“I will rip your pretty heart out.” The hunter leaned in and breathed over Ben's face, making him gag. “And I will enjoy it.” He pointed the tip of the blade to Ben's chest, lightly running it over the soft cotton he wore before dipping down and cutting the fabric away to reveal Ben's chest, where he started to carve the skin away.

“So much.”

Overestimation was everyone’s downfall.

With the last magic he could find in his weakened body he shoved the hunter back, back until he stumbled and crashed into the nightstand, the shattering of wood and glass ringed through the room.

“The powder…”

“You think a crippling spell can affect me? A born Unathi?”

Fast, he overcame the effect on his muscles, bringing himself back to his feet.

“How dare you come into my town and try to kill me!” Ben whispered, still loud in the now quite room.

“How dare you.” He could feel his magic swirling around his arm over his face and into the air around him, making him glow in the night.

And the hunter, the dumb foolish hunter tried to get up, but now Ben's fury lend its hand in his magic, in his doing.

The man took a step towards him and Ben's magic lashed out, swiping through fabric and skin, tearing muscle, veins and bones into half. His scream echoed through the house and was followed shortly with a loud ‘thump’ as his abused body hit the floor.

Showing mercy, Ben brought his magic down, over the head of the hunter. Stopping his heartbeat, his breathing until he stopped altogether.

Only then, after everything was once quiet again, Ben could feel the energy draining out of him rapidly as he watched the blood soaking into the wooden floor.

Using magic to rob someone of their life was always draining.

Supporting himself on the door frame he sent a cleaning spell over the room and started his way downstairs, leaving a clean room with a dead person behind him.

Running back home was the only chance of keeping him awake, to give himself a bit of a energy dose.

Soon enough he came stumbling through the yard of their home, crashing against the door before unlocking it and tumbling into their home, smearing dirt, blood and sweat everywhere.

“Ben?” a sleepy voice from the steps made him look up.

Mike stood there, rubbing one of his eyes with his fist while the other one was dangling at his side and as soon as Mike got a good look at Ben he was running down the stairs and kneeling down at Ben's side.

“What happened?” He asked, hands searching for a wound and found it. He made a shocked sound, hovering his hand over the wound as if he wanted to touch, to make sure this was real. But Ben lifted his hand up to pull Mike's hand away from his chest.

“Will tell you tomorrow.” Ben muttered and leaned into the soft hand smoothing over his face, his hair. “Can we go to bed?”

“Sure sure.” Mike hastily said and helped Ben to walk up the stairs, always touching him, reminding him that this was real and that his soft sweet boyfriend just came home, with a bloody and destroyed chest and a nearly dead tint to his skin.

Lying him on their bed carefully, Mike undressed him quickly, surprised to find a necklace around Ben's neck. He went back to undress him before getting the first aid kit. He had no fucking idea how to tend to such a wound but he would try. For Ben.

“No.” Ben groaned as he saw the kit and tried to heft himself up onto his elbows. But ended falling back down.

“You know our storage room?” Ben said, strained.

Mike nodded.

“There is a green small box under the old shoes. Get it. Please.”

For a moment, Mike was confused but then he was jogging to the room to get the box, it was heavy in his hands even though it was so small. Placing it next to the steady breathing Ben he went to work it open but it only made a clicking noise and stayed shut.

Ben, with a heavy hand, pressed his fingers to the box and suddenly a soft blue shimmer covered the box before it made a loud *click* and sprang open.

“Later.” Mike reminded himself quietly but confused about what was happening.

“Take the green paste.” Ben said, turning his head to watch what Mike was doing.

Looking inside the box, he found more than just the paste. Tiny bones and dried herbs, bundles of something that looked like teeth and vials filled with liquids in many colors.

“Green…” he murmured as he searched for it and smiled shortly when he found it.

“Put it on the wound.” Ben said, heavy eyes slowly starting to shut.

Mike did as told, smearing the green paste into the bloody wound, mixing it with fresh blood that oozed out of the wound.

“Like that?” Mike asked and when he didn’t get an answer, he looked up and saw Ben staring at him.

“Yeah... thank you. I will sleep now, okay?” And then he was out.

Mike just sat there, paste in one hand and blood on the other with his boyfriend lying on the bed, bloody and dirty.

He took a deep breath and proceeded to clean up.

* * *

 

“Good morning.” A voice filtered through the fog surrounding his brain, making him want to open his eyes even as they felt sealed shut to him. He went back under.

“You really have to wake up because I haven't got a single idea what is happening.” Someone said, right next to his ear when he came around a second time.

“I am afraid.” The person murmured with a familiar voice and Ben wanted to turn his head, to smile at the person to tell them that everything was alright. But he couldn’t.

“I called your mother. I don’t know what else I should do. She told me to stay at your side and wait. I guess that is what I am doing now. Until you wake up.”

A loud sound, followed by more than the one voice he was used to.

“Ekuseni!” Someone yelled and he felt the bed dip under a weight.

“You fucking dumb ass.” Someone else said.

“Who is Ekuseni?” he heard the familiar voice again and his brain supplied 'Mike' as the speaker.

“Your boyfriend I would say.” Someone snapped at him and Ben made a growling noise. No one will ever be anything but nice to Mike.

“Ben?” Mike asked softly and then Ben felt a hand on his face, stroking over his cheek.

“Mhh?” Ben tried to turn his head into the hand but only managed to partly. He still could feel the happiness coming in waves from every direction of the room.

“You fucking piece of dumb shit.” Someone said and he smiled.

He pried his eyes open and the first thing he saw was Mike, leaning over him with a worried face.

“His eyes…” He heard and then Mike was pushed away softly before he saw his mother standing there, grimly looking down at him. Looking at his golden eyes.

“He is recharging his powers. This dumb shit.” She said and Ben would have laughed if it didn’t feel like he would fall back under the dark covers any second.

“Stay with us Ekuseni.” Aty said and also stepped into his vision, soon followed by Zulklea, his sister and Jolioksa, Atys daughter.

“I will.” Ben whispered and reached a hand out to touch his mother’s hand lying on the bed. As soon as they touched, Bens pain was washed away for the duration of the touch.

“ngiyabonga” he mumbled and got smiles from his family in return.

“Will you tell him?” He then asked, looking at his mother before he let his eyes wander to Mike who still looked worried, with his hands fiddling on his shirt and his eyes steadily on Ben. “Please?”

“I will, Kancane”

And then Mike was pulled out of the room by Ben's mother and Zulklea.

Aty and Jolioksa begun to put spells all over him, healing his wounds faster and making his pain go away completely before cleaning him up until the only blood on him was the one in the wound that closed rapidly.

Soon after they finished they curled around him, keeping him in the middle while they let their magic flow around them to strengthen their bond once again.

“We missed you at home.” They said and Ben nodded.

“I missed home too.”

* * *

 

His mother and Zulklea returned soon with Mike following them, a few charms hanging around his neck and some bracelets covering his wrists.

“They are for protection!” Zulklea laughed when Ben looked at them, disapproving.

“I know they are.” Ben returned and suddenly had another person snuggling up at him. When he looked back up from where Lea was now cuddling his side, He saw Mike grinning at the pile of humans on their bed.

“Will you join?” He asked and Mike answered with lying himself between Aty and Ben's back and finally Ben could let his magic caress Mike, making him feel how much he loved him. Mike made surprised sound and buried his face in Ben’s neck, smiling into the skin there.

“I love you too. But we still need to talk.”

“That’s okay.”

The bed dipped once again and his mother joined them, lying on the outer edge of the bed.

“Let's nap, shall we?” she said and they all laughed softly and did exactly that.

* * *

 

Ben was up and about two days after. He still felt pretty damn tired all the time but that was mostly because he spilled a big amount of his blood and even magic couldn’t speed up the process of his body making new blood cells.

The four family members drove off a few hours after they woke up from their nap, leaving many healing potions and a few recipes for them here.

Most of the time Ben spend in the bed he was quizzed by Mike who had him lean against his chest with his hands resting on Ben’s stomach, holding him close and peppering kisses on the available skin.

They came to an understanding between soft morning lights and steaming herbal tea.

And Mike never took off the bracelets and charms.

Mostly because he actually liked them. But also because he once spilled hot water over his hand and didn’t feel any pain or blister.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> my darling beta [saskia](http://www.littlegrayfishes.tumblr.com)  
> [my blog](http://www.luvemishacollins.tumblr.com)  
> and our benxmike [blog](http://www.benxmike.tumblr.com)


End file.
